Warning: This article may cause Sidekick fans to cry, beg, kick and show other signs of emotional distress.
According to BoyGenius, the myTouch Slide will end all Sidekick sales. The new tipster informed BGR that the upcoming T-Mobile myTouch Slide, will cause Magenta to slowly phase out all Sidekick sales. It is still unclear what this means. Is T-Mobile getting rid of the Sidekick line permanently? As you probably already know, the Sidekick device has become very popular with the deaf community, and by discontinuing the Sidekick device T-Mobile could lose a good amount of loyal subscribers. Of course keeping in mind that we don’t experience another one of those massive Sidekick Outages. Until we have further confirmation, please take this as a grain of salt.
What do you guys think, should T-Mobile get rid of the Sidekick line? Would anyone actually miss it?
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well maybe they’re going to make some new awesome mt3g line lol
i think that if they find a good line of devices to replace the sidekick line, then everyone is happy
blaaaaaaaaaahhhh Nooo This Can’t Be.! I So Hope This Isn’t True.!
We’re Still Due For An Actual OTA-U And Not A Firmware Update.! =(
I Don’t See How/Why A HTC Device Would Result In The Discontinuation Of Sidekicks =?
That’s pretty lame of them. We can still use our old sidekicks if they do get rid of them right? Like they’d still have our 19.99 plans.. I would stick with mines if they do. >_> I had the motorola cliq for like a week, hated it.
Haha. I bought the Cliq and had it for a day and returned it 2 get the LX09. I hated it with a passion.
what did you hate about it?
im pretty sure you can stay grandfathered into the plan you have now. What did you hate about the Cliq.
With no new (non-”Pink”) Sidekicks on the Horizon, this seems an inevitability. The LX 2009 seems to have been the last in the pipeline when Microsoft took over Danger a few years ago. The October ‘09 outages were the final nail in the coffin of the Sidekick brand. The only thing left is to sell out the remaining stock as soon as possible (thus the huge recent price drops).
I hope the Smithsonian gets a few of the older ones, cuz they are true classic devices predicting things to come, since they were, at one time, ahead of their time compared to anything else in the market.
ncmacasl – good to see you still around. didn’t you have the tips & tricks thread on hiptop.com? are you still using a Danger device? I’ve wondered what the other power users went to…
Although I do not know what makes the sk so popular with the deaf community, whatever the features are should be included in any phone meant to replace it. Either that or keep the sk for persons of special needs. T-Mobile showed they had a heart in the Haiti disaster, so have a heart in this situation too.
At the time you could get an unlimited sidekick plan for $29.99. So it was super cheap and they didn’t need voice so it was a perfect setup. Since then the prices have gone up and are not such a great deal anymore.
my touch with a physical keyboard and truphone?
sounds like a wiener to me.
When you think about it it that leaked road map did have G1.5 on it they probably just decided to change the name to mt3g slide makes since to me
your all idoits buying into t mobile all it is is a my touch with a keyboard. G1 anyone?
The Mytouch slide, confuses me anyway, wouldn’t it be like the G1 anyway? Whatever the case is. I use to have a sidekick, I loved it but I gave it up for a blackberry and gave that up for android. I’m sticking with Android!!!!
I think if an alternative was given and was, just as good as what they expect everyone will be happy.
The Sidekick is about 3 years overdue for replacement. It’s still a dumbphone pretending to be a smartphone. It was cool…in 2004, but it now looks very outdated in both its hardware and software. The Sidekick line was already nearing the end of its useful life, and the big outage was the final nail in the coffin.
I think the MyTouch slide is a viable replacement for both the Sidekick and G1. Pray for a Snapdragon processor there…more than 8GB of INTERNAL memory would be good also.
I really hope they get ride of the sidekick in its current state. Its dated and showing its age. With the whole sidekick servers crashing was the beginning of the end for sidekick. They really need throw everything out the window and start from scratch.
I think the mytouch slide will turn out being the device first intended to be the G1v.2. Just a thought.
about time the sidekick dies the only way this can happen is if the aims as in im yahoo and msn work the same as the kicks if it dont then sidekick will still be around
they should have been got rid of the sidekicks, sidekick users will lose their minds when they jump on the andriod banwagon. andriod is 10x better.
Im a current lx09 user, I had the cliq for a week, and it was shit, same with the mytouch.. Had it and no keyboard was lame.
Microsoft bought it and its not so much t-mobile discontinuing it as it is microsoft. but fear not, supposedly, they have “project pink” in the works. google it, its everywhere. i agree w/ what tmo is doing. as soon as ms bought danger, they pretty much lost all control and leeway they had w/ the product. By making the mytouch slide the go to product that the sidekick was, they get to control it like they used to. I had the first sidekick and everyone until the sidekick lx. once the G1/android came out, it did/does everything the sidekick did but better! I used to hack the fuck out of my sidekick but, wasn’t enough for me. I luv the fact that i really don’t have to pay 4 any apps on android, unless u don’t look, and the fact that the community is so big and great/helpful. For the deaf community, i remember getting my first sidekick and hooking up w/ an awesome deaf(i so bad wanted to spell it death) girl by meeting her through the sidekick forums! Go android! There are so many apps and they have tty ( hope is spelt it right). at least im pretty sure there is an app 4 it! Plus, if not, there will be one and if not, u guys im sure could make one. Goodbye sidekick, u def. were ahead of ur time when u came out but, times a changin’…
people over the world love the sidekick all they would have to do is give it a sexy new arm strap nice amoled screen make it touch screen keep the keyboard sidekicks still own any keyboard on phones make there aim yahoo msn client work the same put a snap dragon more rom and everyone would run and buy a sidekick 2010 remix now powered by microsoft windows 7. they can also try 2 make a skin over like a super updated sidekick kinda like sense but sidekickey just my thoughts i doubt danger has given up
Good Riddance!!! The Sidekick line sucked anyway and let’s not forget about those horrid incidents with the Sidekick.
Honestly I used to be the biggest sidekick fan,had all the kicks new all the tips and tricks,shortcuts,hidden game all the stupid stuff that came along with the kicks (sidekick slide is still my all time fav!) Go moto! Haha anyways I would be extreamly happy to see the sidekick line discontinued to many little kids depend on those things out here in az we call them scene kicks cuase every little emo scene kid owns one lol…glad I can say I was never one of them lol but gotta say I was extramly happy to be on the pre-order list for the G1 ever since anything android has completly taken over my life wich I’m happy I can say google and tmobile definetly changed the mobile industry for the better love my cliq (gave my G1 to my fiencè once the cliq arrived! Hope to see some more android/physical keyboard phones not a huge fan of on screen keyboards like that “other” phone! But keep up the…
This is a good move on tmo’s part. The sidekick is the biggest perpetuator of the tween and teen friendly image that tmo has become known to have.
Hmm.. Why are sidekicks popular with the death community? Would anyone be willing to elaborate on this more?
I hope T-Mobile decides to continue the sidekick line-up though!
It’s because back in the day (circa 2003) the Sidekick was the only true cell phone (yes there were pagers but they were limited) that allowed for a data only plan. Not to mention the Sidekick was the first phone with a keyboard that didn’t suck and was overall easy to use.
Plus you have the massive support from the programs for the hearing impaired (i711 and relay) that were offered for free and really first of its’ kind. True these are now available on most devices but the Sidekick was first.
well my thought is this ( purely my own opinion) so if tmo discontinues the Sidekick an replaces it with mt3gs then i think they should go ahead its a superior os an plus if the sidekick is an appealing phone to the deaf community then i feel they android should create something for that community as well it would be nice if they had a phone for the deaf people or for the blind people an i mean SOLEY for them so that way they can create more traffic for the company thus making tmo atleast in 2nd place ( if im wrong correct me)
If this comes out the sidekicks should only be sold like the prepaid phones or whatever. Just for the teens who want a phone and parents who dont want to throw down for their kids a 2 year contract
yeah, i deffinately will NOT care if they got rid of sidekicks. i had the lx 07, which was the best theyve had i think, and now i have a motorola cliq, finally a phone thats up to date. sidekicks were fun in 2005, they suck now. either they need a major OS change or just end them, the sales in sidekicks probably decreased so much its w.e danger sucks azz.
Danger doesn’t suck ass. They were wonderful, and brought us the wonderful device known as the Sidekick. Microsoft, on the other hand, sucks royally. Aside from the debacle they caused with the data outage, they have TONS of money. They could have easily made the Sidekick into a respectable phone again. Instead, the killed it and are now wasting time trying to develop some ugly phones (according to the Project Pink mock ups that are floating around the internet) for God only knows what reason. The market is entirely too saturated with decent keyboard/large touch screen phones.
I loved the Sidekick, having been with the line for 6 yrs, but its sadly over.
RIP Sidekick devices. Thanks for everything! And “thanks” Microsoft for ruining it…
Hahahahahahahaa @ the warning! this is why i love reading tmonews ;D
MS now owns Danger, who made a phone/handset that T-mobile re-named ‘The Sidekick’.
The name can be applied to anything. T-mo could subsidize the Xperia and make a deal to rename it Sidekick if they wanted.
So when they talk about ‘ending Sidekick’, it’s referring to the NAME more than anything else. There have been different Sidekicks manufactured by different companies, not just Danger. (The Moto one comes to mind, not sure which others).
So the real question is does T-mobile need the Sidekick ‘brand’?
There’s still a market out there for people who want a less complicated ‘messenger’ phone, or even for teens’ ‘My First Smartphone’. I think T-mo should find a suitable replacement that focuses on messaging, web and full QWERTY. It should be a mid-to-low range smartphone that can be sold on the cheap.
But, the flip side is any phone you name ‘Sidekick’ will automatically lose a lot of potential customers simply over what ‘Sidekick’ means to them.
Meanwhile, I’m holding on to every amount of hope that Danger and MS are working on a Zune phone. Please please please please…
A mytouch with a keyboard isnt that a G1. what the hell is this tmobile first u give us crap with the g1 then u remove it’s keyboard and now u add it back. do not buy!
Um…it’s not like T-Mobile is designing the phones. Besides, perhaps the form factor will be similar to the G1 (but hopefully more symmetrical), but it will hardly be the same phone. I’ve heard mainly complaints about the MT3G, so maybe this is an attempt to rectify what people don’t like about the first rendition. Simply put, if it doesn’t sound like something you want, don’t buy it. But you can hardly tell other’s what they do or don’t want in a device.
Sidekick… That was so 5 years ago
what is Sidekick?
My SKLX09 is a piece of wasted crap! I spent all this money for it to breakdown not only software wise but hardware also! Tmobile is refusing to replace a device that is defective and wants me to pay up to $180 for another 1 I said no way! I hit up Tmobile twitter last night and let them know the issue and how rude a CSR was. They said they would take care of my issue and I hope so cos they may lose 3 cell family plan if they don’t.
I’m no longer a Sidekick user, but they’ll always hold a special place in my heart. My first one was the Sidekick 3 in early 2007. It really opened my eyes to how much was possible using a cell phone. I also had the LX & the LX09. Even though the LX09 could do a lot the original LX couldn’t, it does have it’s problems. It just doesn’t seem as well built (software & hardware) as previous Sidekicks. Coupled w/ the Great Sidekick Outage, it really does’t surprise me that it’s come to this. I moved onto a Blackberry after the outage. Although it’s a great device, I still miss my Sidekick @ times. Depending on what the keyboard looks like on the new mytouch slider thing, I may jump to that eventually.
anyone wanna buy a antique? i have a tony hawk sidekick lx serial number 3 as in tony hawk has (or by now had) the first two ever made? I may sell it but i suppose if im going to now would be the time so people could use it before it ends. anyway if interested hit me on my email kevinmd84@gmail.com highest offer gets it! if i dont get offers at all i’ll just keep it and remember my good times with my TH sidekick.
TEAM HAWK
I work at a retail store, we only sell sidekicks by request, and have no demo models of the device because they have been, and always will be, garbage.
That sidekick is that best don’t take him no where only make better like a andor or smarth phone ya have no right to do that stop that now
Maybe this means T-Mobile will finally offer a data-only Android plan that doesn’t require one to pay for 500 minutes of voice time that never get used?
If not, T-Mobile will likely end up losing the deaf community in the process…
Google NexusOne FTW.
I really want one.
And this is me typing this comment on a sidekick lx 09.
It’s sad to see them fall behind. But truthfully, they’re far too behind now.
Compared to the other phones that are out right now.
U know, after the power outage in Oct.09 a (day b4 my birthday) the sidekick just went down the drain. I mean there’s other phones that can doo way better. Like example. Youtube on a sklx9 sucks ass. And the past few months its been really slow with loadingand soo on. My say after 5 yrs. Im glad to be moving on from the sidekicks. But what I will miss is the keyboard.
good times. Lol spcially to drunk textes.
I love my sidekick & have been using SK’s for about 4 years. I had the SK3 DWade & now have a SK08. I’ve had very few problems with them. Even when Danger had the Data Outage I didn’t lose anything at all. I will say though, when the SK is no more … T-Mobile is no more for me. I will definately be switching carriers.